|
Micropropagation for triploid watermelon
|
||
| Application / Use: | Rapid propagation of triploid seedless watermelon without resorting to seed production season after season | |
| Input Needed: | General tissue culture facility and hardening / acclimatization units. The genotype available here is susceptible to Watermelon bud necrosis virus and Watermelon mosaic virus. Therefore, protected conditions are needed during acclimatization phase. The crop should be raised under poly / glass-house conditions or in areas where these problems do not prevail. | |
| Output Capacity: | Upto 1 million plants per year | |
| Specific Benefits: | Commercial entrepreneurship for higher income | |
| Unit Cost: | Production cost = Rs. 5-6 per plant (approx.) if facilities for tissue culture production exists already; Needs scaling up | |
| Description: | This is a tissue-culture based method for rapid clonal propagation of seedless watermelon. Seedlessness in watermelon is conferred by triploidy (2n=3x). In the normal course, triploid seeds are produced by crossing tetraploid and diploid parents season after season, as in hybrid seed production. This technology avoids the need for maintenance of tetraploid parental lines, controlled pollination etc. We have the stock of 3x ‘Arka Manik’ which is an autotriploid of the multiple disease resistant (anthracnose, powdery mildew and downy mildew) IIHR watermelon variety ‘Arka Manik’. | |
| Developed By: | Dr. Pious Thomas, Senior Scientist, Division of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore-560 089; email: pioust@iihr.ernet.in | |
| Contact Person: | Director, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessarghatta Lake, Bangalore-560 089 Tel: 080-28466420-24 (ext. 200); Fax: 080-28466291; mail: director@iihr.ernet.in | |
| Institute: | IIHR, Bangalore | |